Bitcoin defies 'extreme fear,' hot jobs report to show signs of resilience

Markets Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Bitcoin defies 'extreme fear,' hot jobs report to show signs of resilience Bitcoin rose after the U.S. jobs report indicated employment growth in many sectors of the economy was restrained even as the headline number surged. By Francisco Rodrigues , Saksham Diwan | Edited by Sheldon Reback Feb 12, 2026, 11:43 a.m. Make us preferred on Google UNI rose after BlackRock's purchase of the token (appshunter.io/Unsplash modified by CoinDesk) What to know : Bitcoin rose to near $67,800 even as a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report pushed back expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts. Derivatives data show stabilizing bearish momentum and rising demand for short-term downside protection, with options traders paying a "panic premium" for puts. UNI rose after BlackRock decided to list its $2.2 billion tokenized U.S. Treasury fund BUIDL on Uniswap and took a strategic stake in the exchange and the governance token. Bitcoin BTC $ 68,088.98 is hovering near $67,800, up on the day, as crypto markets took in January’s stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report without an initial selloff. The resilience is feeding a shift in sentiment, with the muted reaction possibly a signal of seller exhaustion and growing appetite for risk, despite a tough macro backdrop. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) has gained 1.5% since midnight UTC with all but one token, BCH $ 514.88 , advancing. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy . The U.S. added 130,000 jobs in January, nearly double the expected 70,000. That data sharply reduced the odds of an early interest rate-cut by the Federal Reserve, pushing expectations out to July. Typically, lowering rate-cut odds would hurt risk assets like cryptocurrencies. The report, however, also showed job growth remained concentrated in health care-related sectors while others remained mostly little changed. That suggests the red-hot headline number is masking underlying cooling across the broader economy. Bitcoin’s resilience suggests seller exhaustion even as sentiment remains low. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index is now at 5, its lowest level since the collapse of FTX in 2022. Derivatives Positioning Bearish momentum is stabilizing, with open interest holding steady near $15.8 billion while perpetual funding rates have swung back to neutral or positive territory. Sentiment is notably bullish on Bybit (+9.5%) and Binance (+3.4%), though Hyperliquid remains a bearish outlier at -4.5%. The three-month basis remains stagnant at around 2%, suggesting that institutional conviction has yet to follow this retail-driven shift in funding. In the bitcoin options market, defensive caution is intensifying, and the one-week 25-delta skew dropped to 19%, with puts now accounting for 54% of 24-hour volume. The implied volatility (IV) term structure has shifted into short-term backwardation, reflecting a "panic premium" as traders pay for immediate downside protection. Coinglass data shows $342 million in 24-hour liquidations, with a 49-51 split between longs and shorts. BTC ($145 million), ETH ($84 million) and others ($18 million) were the leaders in terms of notional liquidations. The Binance liquidation heatmap indicates $68,800 as a core liquidation level to monitor, in case of a price rise. Token Talk BlackRock (BLK) is bringing its $2.2 billion tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, BUIDL, to Uniswap, giving decentralized finance (DeFi) users access to Treasury yields through the platform. This marks the first time the world’s largest asset manager is listing a tokenized product on a decentralized exchange. BlackRock also disclosed a strategic investment in Uniswap and bought an undisclosed amount of UNI, the exchange’s governance token. UNI surged 25% on the news, climbing to $4.11. It has since dropped back to $3.35. This appears to be the first time a major financial institution has directly invested in a decentralized finance project's governance token. To enable the move, BlackRock worked with Uniswap Labs and compliance firm Securitize. BUIDL trades will route through UniswapX, an offchain quote system that sources prices from approved market makers and settles trades onchain. Investors must be qualified through Securitize, which ensures compliance with U.S. securities regulations. Crypto Markets Today Derivatives Altcoins Markets More For You Ark Invest buys Bullish stock for 9th straight day in $11.6 million purchase By Jamie Crawley 51 minutes ago Ark bought around 2.1 million BLSH shares in the past nine trading days, valued about $58.8 million based on the stock's closing price each day. What to know : Ark Invest bought $11.6 million worth of shares in cryptocurrency exchange Bullish on Wednesday, the ninth consecutive day the investment manager has bought the stock. The investment company has bought around 2.1 million BLSH shares over the period, worth about $58.75 million based on the stock's closing price each day. The Cathie Wood-led company also bought $33.8 million of crypto-friendly investment platform Robinhood (HOOD) shares and $4.37 million worth of stock in stablecoin developer Circle Internet (CRCL) on Wednesday. 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